Too much stuff...

I woke up in the middle of the night last night, and even though I was exhausted I couldn't fall backto sleep, I started thinking about all of the stuff that has seemed to creep into every inch of space in our house. I have always been a person who likes things clean but cozy, and that is what my house has always been, but it seems that lately I am losing the battle to clutter. I look back at pictures from when we first moved in and see empty spaces where there are now stacks of books, and piles of stuffed animals and I wonder how all of this stuff got into my house.
I love books, and I love that my children love books, but before they used to be so organized, now they are everywhere...piled under tables, next to tables, in baskets, on shelves, in the living room, kid's rooms and I even have stacks of children's books in my room...
Toys are another issue. My daughter is the Queen of Stuffed Animals...she has more plush toys than the Disney Store...I have tried packing some of them away but she really does play with most of them and so they get pulled right back out of the garbage bags in the storage closests...they are piled on her bed, and she has an adult size wicker chair in her room that you cannot even see because of all of the stuffed animals, not too mention that they show up everywhere else in the house too...in my room, the living room, the craft room, and both cars...and then there are the millions of toy cars and power rangers...I swear we didn't buy all of this stuff...o.k. so we bought some of it, and I know that the Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles have all done their share of contributing too...its just all starting to make me feel like I am suffocating...
I spend so much time picking up all this clutter that I don't have time to clean the house the right way...I feel like all I do is straighten and battle the clutter....
Sorry this rant has gotten so long, but there is a purpose...this is a cry for help...how do you detach yourself from some of this stuff and get rid of it, or at least organize what you have...
Any suggestions?